In 1971, an American table tennis team was invited to China to compete in a match. They were the first Americans to visit Beijing, since 1949. This setup the opportunity for President Nixon to travel to China in 1972. In 1995, Nelson Mandela, who was the first new president after the apartheid in South Africa, who decided to embrace the all-white national rugby team. Because of the country's intense negative relations between the whites and blacks, this was controversial. But when the team won, he awarded the trophy and shook the captain's hand, which was a symbol for the country of hope and forgiveness; bringing the country together. But, the most dramatic moment in sports happened in the summer Olympics in 1936. Adolf Hitler was in power and aimed to prove that the Aryan race was superior. But to his amazement, there were many Jews competing, and more importantly, winning. Hungarian Jew, Karoly Karpati, defeated the German favorite, Wolfgang Ehrl, in the lightweight freestyle wrestling. Instead of shaking his hand, Hitler left the stadium early. This showed the world that Hitler’s theory was wrong. The love of sports can unify nations because competition can help in building respect for one …show more content…
In the past several years, there has been a spotlight on sports when it comes to injuries. Many parents have taken their children out of the more violent sports, like football. However, research has shown that most Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy has only affected players at the highest level of professional competition. The new concussion protocols take players out of action when necessary making it safer than ever to play the sport. The benefits of playing football outweigh the risk. Many critics are also concerned with the recent spending on stadium top level teams. However, the economic return on sports in a local economy can be quite large. The sports industry brings roughly 14.3 billion earnings per year. The industry contributes around 456,000 jobs with an average salary of 39,000 dollars per job. Some of these jobs are umpires, sports officials, coaches, scouts, agents, players, and trainers. Society benefits economically because it can be a cheap form of entertainment for its fans. Americans only spend 25 million dollars on sports compared to 10.7 billion dollars on shopping. This proves economic benefits of sports outways its expenses on a community. Some people argue that sports are a waste of time and help develop violent behavior. Thomas Jefferson said, “games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind.” (Simanek) This statement seems to